The BC Civil Liberties Association, along with Lee Carter and her husband Hollis Johnson, are fighting the law on behalf of their 89-year-old mother, Kay Carter, who died in Switzerland in 2010 by lethal injection after being diagnosed with a degenerative spinal cord condition two years earlier. Kay is pictured here in Zurich on Jan. 14, 2010, the day before her assisted suicide at Dignitas clinic. Kay is with daughter, Lee Carter, with the red scarf. The man in the photo is Lee’s husband, Hollis Johnson and her sister, Marie Trewella.Handout
/ Vancouver Sun

Gloria Taylor, who was one of the plaintiffs in the right to die case, is pictured in Vancouver, on June 18, 2012. Taylor, who was suffering from ALS, died later that year.DARRYL DYCK
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Elayne Shapray, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, pauses for a moment during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., Oct. 29, 2013. Shapray and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association made a urgent plea to have a choice in how to die.JONATHAN HAYWARD
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Supreme Court of Canada announced this morning it will hear the appeal of a B.C. couple, challenging the law that makes physician-assisted suicide illegal.Adrian Wyld
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

The BC Court of Appeal overturned an earlier ruling that struck down a law that made doctor-assisted suicide illegal, Thursday, October 10, 2013 in Vancouver. Pictured are plaintiffs Hollis Johnson (left) and Lee Carter (right) with BC Civil Liberties Association lawyer Grace Pastine (centre) following the ruling.Jason Payne
/ PNG

The Supreme Court of Canada will hear a B.C. couple’s appeal of a law that makes physician-assisted dying illegal.

As is its custom, the high court gave no reason for its decision Thursday, and dismissed an application to expedite the case.

The BC Civil Liberties Association, along with Lee Carter and her husband Hollis Johnson, launched a suit in B.C. in 2011. They are fighting the law on behalf of their 89-year-old mother, Kay Carter, who died in Switzerland in 2010 by lethal injection after being diagnosed with a degenerative spinal cord condition two years earlier.

The BCCLA argues that seriously and incurably ill, mentally competent adults should have the right to receive medical assistance to hasten death under specific safeguards.

The plaintiffs were later joined by Gloria Taylor, a B.C. woman with ALS who wanted to die with the help of a physician. She died from her illness in 2012.

The B.C. Supreme Court heard the case and agreed with the plaintiffs, ruling that the law be overturned and a new one be introduced that would legalize assisted dying.

However, the B.C. Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 decision, overturned that ruling late last year.

The BCCLA then filed an appeal to the Supreme Court in October. The group also asked for the case to be expedited on behalf of those who are gravely ill, but that request was turned down Thursday. Elayne Shapray, a 67-year-old Vancouver woman whose multiple sclerosis has left her unable to walk, wrote an affidavit to support the application to expedite the appeal.

Shapray on Thursday said she is tormented by the knowledge she is trapped in an “unbearable dying process” and lives in legal uncertainty of her rights. She hopes the court will rule in their favour, and that she won’t be forced to take matters into her own hands.

“As the law now stands, I will be obliged to end my life without the assistance of a physician, and will have to act alone, while I still can,” she said.

“While I do not want to traumatize my family by ending my life through self-starvation, over medication or some horrible self-inflicted injury, these are the only choices until the Supreme Court rules that the laws are unconstitutional.”

Grace Pastine, litigation director for the BCCLA, said she was relieved the high court decided to hear the association’s case and is hopeful there will be legal change for Canadians who want a dignified and peaceful death.

“There are few rights more fundamental, or more deeply personal, than the right to determine how much suffering to endure and whether to seek a doctor’s assistance to hasten death if living becomes unbearable,” she said in a statement Thursday.

Dying With Dignity executive director Wanda Morris said a strong majority of Canadians support legalizing assisted dying where “suffering is unbearable and all hope is lost.”

Earlier this week, New Mexico became the fifth U.S. state to legalize assisted dying, and it’s lawful in four countries in Europe.

“It is now time for Canada to provide this fundamental human right,” said Morris.

Morris said she hoped a decision would be made by next year.

“It’s impossible to say what the Supreme Court will decide. But we are cautiously optimistic. Certainly we are seeing change. Just like we saw gay marriage go from something that nobody talked about to something that is legal, I think this is a social change that is inevitable, but we will continue to fight very hard for it.”

Dr. Gerald Ashe, member of the advisory council of physicians of Dying with Dignity, said Thursday’s decision is great news for Canadians.

“It is very rare that a dying patient decides to take their own life, but for those who do decide that this is their only option and for those families and individuals who support them, this decision gives hope. As a physician it gives me the hope that I can truly accompany all of my patients in their final journey,” he said.

The high court’s decision comes more than 20 years after its landmark ruling on the issue in the case of Sue Rodriguez, when the Supreme Court upheld the law in a 5-4 decision.

The federal government staunchly opposes assisted suicide, arguing that it demeans the value of life and puts vulnerable people at risk of abuse. Helping someone die is a criminal offence in Canada, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

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